The present invention relates to interactive hand-held devices, and more particularly to methods and apparatuses for receiving and decoding modulated signals, for use by a hand-held devices and receiving benefits from receptions of the signals.
The hand-held devices receive modulated video signals for purposes including enjoyment, promotion, transfer of information, data collection, commercial verification, security, education, and transactions or verifications at points of sale, as well as other commercial, personal, entertainment, or amusement purposes. Data may be sent to the hand-held device by optical or electrical means. Data may be received by the hand-held device by utilizing a sleeve, cradle, or docking station; through an optical lens, by use of a PCMCIA or alternate computer port, or by FM, AM, or other radio frequency means. Use of the device may allow users to receive promotional opportunities and other information including access to hotel rooms and facilities.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,031 Broughton et al. (“Broughton”) titled “Interactive Video Method and Apparatus” relates generally to in-band video broadcasting of commands and other encoded information to interactive devices. The invention described therein relates generally to interactive educational and entertainment systems, and is described in one embodiment in the context of television program control of toys located where there is a television receiver, as within a residence.
To encode control data capable of providing a benefit to a user, Broughton discloses a novel method of luminance or chrominance modulation of a video signal that creates a composite video signal, whereby the control data is created by modulating the video signal. The novel modulation method alternately raises and lowers the luminance/chrominance of adjacent horizontal scan lines to create a video subcarrier that contains the control data.
Under Broughton, the video signal is not being replaced with other data, nor is the data being added as a separate signal along with the video signal, rather, the video signal itself is modulated to subsequently create the control data. Therefore, the control data is a part of, or contained within, the video signal. The encoding method also includes preview and remove circuitry to ensure suitability or the presence of data encoding and removal of data encoding, respectively.
The control data is transmitted either by television broadcast means, or by pre-recorded video players that are connected to a video display. The control data is then received by the video display where a video field of the video display is modulated by control (i.e. auxiliary) data. The control data is then detected with either opto-electronic or RF (radio frequency) detection means that discriminate the program material from the control data. The detected control data is further reproduced such that the control data can be used with an interactive device.
A practical example of a device as described above is the commercially-sold hand-held game device for receiving and detecting such control data has been called the “Wheel of Fortune” ITV Play-Along Game, intended to be used at while viewing a television program presentation of the famous television show of the same name. The device, produced under license by the assignee of Broughton, was a palm-sized device and included a photosensor within a case of the device that received the video signals. The device then discriminated control data from the video program material and caused an LCD display device on the face panel of the toy to present portions of a word puzzle, allowing the holder of the device to play the game along with a contestant or to play in response to a videotaped presentation of the game. The “Wheel of Fortune” interactive television (ITV) game together with its hand-held control device including keyboard was commercially available in 1988.
An improvement on the method of modulation described in Broughton is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,228 Ciardullo et al. In Ciardullo et al. improved methods of modulation are disclosed. Data is inserted on the visual portion of a video signal by changing the luminance of paired lines in opposite directions, thus allowing allow larger amounts of data to be modulated in a signal. Broughton and Ciardullo et al. are both incorporated by reference herein.
Efforts by others to provide hand-held devices capable of receiving transmission of modulated data from a video display are represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,594,493; 5,761,601; 5,767,896, 5,907,350, and 5,953,047. Of these, U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,350 discloses a method for storing data on a so-called smart card, which is contended to receive, decode and store encoded data signals comprising redeemable coupons said to be embedded within television segments and transmitted along with normal television segments. The device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,350 is a hand-held unit that receives luminance signals from the television display in accordance with the principles of Broughton. The received video signals are decoded and stored within the card for future use. An LCD (liquid crystal display) readout enables Universal Price Codes (“UPC”) corresponding to the stored data. A scanner reads the UPC codes at a redemption site, and the stored coupon is then erased from a memory of the card. A microprocessor channels the decoding and storage aspects, and a keypad allows use and input.
The term “smart card” as used in the above patents, connotes a hand-held, portable device, not conceptually different from the above-mentioned “Wheel of Fortune” ITV game device. However, the term does not only apply to those patents.
As a generic term, “smart card” gradually has come to mean a card that looks like a credit card but includes a microchip or microprocessor embedded or incorporated into the card. The smart card may be referred to as a “fingerheld” computer, typically including a data storage media ranging from less than a kilobyte up to a megabyte (if not more), and are said to have originated in France. Ognibene, P. J., “Card Smarts,” Technology Decisions (July, 1999). Smart cards may, according to a line of reference, also be called “chip cards.”
For purposes of the present invention, the term “interactive card” means an interactive device of portable character, preferably of hand-held type which may be carried in the palm by a user, between fingers of the user, or is otherwise intended to be easily grasped and handled manually by the user, including credit card-like devices. To the extent that they are used in the present description relative only to inventions herein disclosed and/or claimed, the terms “hand-held device,” “interactive device,” “card,” “interactive card,” “smart card,” “optical card,” are used interchangeably.
The term “sponsor” is used herein in its broadest possible sense, and may include without limitation entities that issue the hand-held devices and entities that accept them or provide redemption services for users of the cards. Sponsors may also include health care and medical institutions and other service or eleemosynary organizations.